The Stranger
by imawalrus
Summary: The new boy in town tells good stories, makes good ramen, and is the friendliest person to meet. But something about him makes the people think that he’s hiding something. Chapter two has been added.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Naruto.

I hope this is a different take on the stories of Naruto leaving the village and what not. I got the name from the book The Stranger, which I actually didn't like so much, but the name intrigued me.

XX

Even though he was a stranger, he attracted the town's kids and entertained them easily. Perhaps it was the disarming smile on his face, his infectious enthusiasm for being in a new place, or maybe it was just his sunny blond hair and twinkling blue eyes. He just seemed like a kind boy.

"You looking to hire?" the stranger asked carrying in the sign he was asking about.

Tanaka smiled softly, "I think you're a bit too young."

The boy blinked. "I'm nineteen," he said to her surprise, "and I really need a job. See," he settled himself down on a stool by the counter, "I left my town for a while. I'm trying to find myself for a few years before I'm… well, I'm kind of being inducted into something when I come back.

"But, I've always been a wild child, and I think I need to do some self-exploration and mature and settle." He scratched the back of his head. "At least, that's what Tsunade-baachan says."

"Who?"

"She's kind of the village leader, but she treats me like her brother or something." He spun around on the seat like a child would and stopped himself to stare at her. "So? Do I get the job?"

Sighing Tanaka asked, "You know much about ramen?"

He just laughed.

XX

There was something off about the young man, but despite his mysterious nature he quickly threw himself into life at the village and gained the friendship of even the most stubborn. He was never late to work, however he could always be seen running in at the last second throwing out apologies but never excuses.

And he was really good at making ramen. Tanaka found her little shop gaining more business as people flocked to taste his ramen, or just to visit him while he was working. Yet, despite the fact that he was a regular social butterfly, he always ate his lunch in the back of the shop, alone.

Before he left the shop everyday a small group would gather out front waiting for him.

"I see your adoring fans have gathered to spend time with you," Tanaka teased.

He scrunched up his nose. "Thanks for point that out, Tanaka-san." He peeked out from behind the counter to verify what she said. "I think I'll be leaving by the back door today."

"Oh, don't be like that, Kiyoshi-kun. You're still young, go out, flirt with a few girls, don't be in such a rush to mature and get old."

"But," he started argue, but stopped himself. "I suppose it should be that way, I just… I'd rather not." He bowed his head slightly. "I'll see you again tomorrow, Tanaka-san."

XX

Oftentimes he could be seen entertaining the young children with his stories.

"Do you want to hear about ninja?"

Always, always about ninja. Everyday he'd ask if they wanted to hear about ninja, as if the day before hadn't been a story about the same thing. However, they all had to admit, no story was like the other. Even after weeks, probably months of him telling stories, the storyline continued to progress and his crowd of listeners only grew.

"This one is a little darker than the others, okay? Do you think you can handle that?" Kiyoshi asked once. One little girl in the front looked a bit terrified at the notion so he pulled her around and tucked her against his side.

"I left off with Naruto catching up with Sasuke…"

Amazing how the children couldn't keep their attention on lessons for longer than two minutes, but two hours later they were all still gathered around Kiyoshi, waiting for the end of the story, waiting to see the outcome.

"…by the time Kakashi-sensei arrived, Naruto was unconscious and next to him was Sasuke's scarred hitai-ite."

"That's it?" Nobu calls out from the front. "Sasuke-teme gets away?"

"Naruto doesn't win?"

Kiyoshi laughs. "That's the end of that fight, but that's no where near the end of their story."

"Do they kiss by the end?" Chikako, one of the older girls, asked out of the blue.

There was a moment when Kiyoshi couldn't respond he was so surprised by her question. A few laughed quietly at his shock that his fictional characters had apparently turned into homosexual lovers sometime during the story.

"What makes you ask that?" he asks truly curious.

"I mean, it's obvious there's something there. I won't say true love or anything silly like that, but there's some raw emotion, this desire to be better than the other, this desire to be with the other. I just got the idea that they couldn't stand to be apart."

After Chikako stops Kiyoshi stays silent, pondering her words and perhaps the truth behind them. The children get bored now that the story is done for the day and begin to wander off. Still, Kiyoshi stays, thinking over what he's heard, and no one can figure out why it means so much to him.

They're just fictional characters after all.

XX

"You've been to Hidden Villages before?" A customer just visiting town once asked Kiyoshi shortly after he'd arrived.

Without pausing from his task he replied, "I traveled a good deal, and I spent a decent amount in some Hidden Villages."

"Which ones?"

"Konohagakure, probably the most. There was some time spent in Takigakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and even Otogakure."

"Sunagakure?"

"I know the Kazekage there."

"The demon boy?"

"I meant I know him personally, and you wouldn't have the guts to say that to his face," Kiyoshi said calmly still cooking.

"Recently there was a war between the villages," the customer says. "Didn't you end up getting caught up in that?"

Kiyoshi laughed. "It was kind of impossible. I ended up entering Konohagakure just before war broke out with Otogakure."

"You must have gotten out of there fast."

"Nope," Kiyoshi shook his head. "I like Konohagakure, so I stayed. I made lots of friends there, and I guess I was nervous about leaving them during a dangerous time."

"I guess you dislike Otogakure then? You know that boy, Uchiha Sasuke? The one who betrayed Konohagakure for Otogakure? Or had he already left?"

There was an odd silence as Kiyoshi stopped and set down his cooking utensils. "I knew him."

The customer stayed quiet and ate the remainder of his meal in silence. Kiyoshi didn't engage in anymore conversations with other customers and even Tanaka couldn't prod any smiles out of him. Before the customer left he couldn't resist opening his mouth once more.

"Did you know the demon child of Konohagakure, Uzumaki Naruto? The other boy from the stories you like to tell? I heard he's disappeared, which makes people real uneasy, and yet, they are going to name him Rokudaime Hokage. I don't understand that village."

Upon standing up he left a folded note with a name scrawled on the front. Kiyoshi hid it away quickly mumbling something unkind under his breath.

The next day Kiyoshi came into work with the remnants of a bruise over his left eye, but no one could figure out why it looked like it was three weeks old when he could have only gotten it the previous day.

XX

Some villagers claimed they saw Kiyoshi early in the morning heading out of town; they always had this slight fear that he was leaving them for good. However he never had any bags with him. No one ever asked him what he did out there and they didn't believe it was any of their business, but they had grown so attached to the young man that they were loathe to see him walk away from the village.

"You're such a friendly person, Kiyoshi-kun, but you like to be alone most of the time," Tanaka said out of the blue. She wasn't sure where she was going with this conversation, but Kiyoshi saved her from the awkward silence.

"I told you that I was coming here to find myself, to mature and grow up. Well, that's why I'm alone a lot. I train a lot. I think a lot."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating on the last part, because from what I remember," an entering customer spoke up, "you never thought much."

Kiyoshi seemed to twitch. "Sakura-chan," he greeted bowing his head.

"Now that just isn't right," she sighed. "You being polite to me just seems wrong. Go back to being your normal loud, annoying, cocky self."

The girl was an interesting one and Tanaka took the time while they were greeting and talking to study her. She was obviously a shinobi, which was exciting because few shinobi ever stopped by in the village. At least, they rarely stopped by _looking_ like shinobi. This girl had on a dark red tank top that was zipped low over three quarter sleeve fishnet. She wore loose black pants that fell just below her knees and had the decoration of sakura in white and pink towards the bottom hem of the left leg. Strapped to her right leg was a pouch that undoubtedly held weapons. Most astonishingly the girl had light pink hair cut crudely to just below her ears.

"I see you wear your hitai-ite over your forehead now… where you're supposed to," Kiyoshi teased slightly.

"Well, yes, I'm to be married, so I've grown up."

"M-married!"

A dreamy smile came over her face, "To Lee of course."

"Rock Sakura," Kiyoshi began to laugh. "That's a priceless name."

"Shut up!" She fiercely punched Kiyoshi straight in the face.

"Please don't hurt Kiyoshi-kun, Sakura-san!" Tanaka came forward.

The girl snorted, "_Kiyoshi_-kun could definitely handle worse than that. I'm Haruno Sakura, soon to be Rock Sakura." She held out a hand.

Tanaka shook it tentatively. "Tanaka Izumi. I run this shop."

"A ramen bar, eh? You're so predictable, Kiyoshi."

The boy winced, "Really?"

"Oh yeah. I heard Gaara visited a short while back. He bragged about giving you a black eye that you couldn't fix as quick as usual."

"Bet that pissed off Sasuke," Kiyoshi laughed.

Sakura took a seat at the counter finally. "Definitely, and speaking of Sasuke, it won't take him long to find you here if I did. He'll be checking ramen bars. I'm _supposed_ to tell him if I found you, but he's been a bit of a pain in the ass lately, so the longer he stays away from the village, the less stressful things will be. Lee and I have enough on our hands planning the wedding to worry about Sasuke being a bastard to everyone."

"He's looking for me?"

"Oh yeah. You thought he wouldn't?"

There's was a moment of silence and Tanaka couldn't help but realize just how little of Kiyoshi they all really knew. Apparently the boy knew some fighting, and was incredibly close friends with a group of ninjas, one of whom was a boy Kiyoshi told stories about. Tanaka figured it was just because of his friendly nature and the time spent in the Hidden Villages. However, there was something about Kiyoshi that was just different when he was around this girl. He was a different person.

"Come home soon, Kiyoshi. Shishou is getting worried and that means she gets mean."

"Baachan is always mean."

"You said it, not me."

Kiyoshi paused. "I've been telling the town kids about Naruto and Sasuke."

Sakura's interest peeked then, "Where are they at in the story."

"Sasuke just came home dragging Naruto's body and you and baachan are working furiously to fix him." Sakura nodded, clearly remembering the events of a story that is either true, or one that they made up using people they knew. "Anyway, a while back, after Sasuke had beaten Naruto at the Valley of the End, one girl, Chikako, asked if the two ever kiss in the end."

A soft smile grew on Sakura's face, "And you were curious about that as well, huh?" Sakura stood up, "You're the storyteller; you tell me. How does this story end? Do Naruto and Sasuke end up happy together, or do they dance around each other for eternity and never come to terms with their feelings?"

"I think they end up miserably together," a third person says dryly. "We're supposed to be on a mission, Sakura-san. As it is, we only made this detour because we were curious about Kiyoshi-kun as well. Otherwise, there's no way we'd take orders from Uchiha."

"You mean, there's no way _you'd_ take orders from Uchiha," Kiyoshi laughed. "I missed you Neji. You are the light of my life. Miss me?"

"Not terribly. In fact, it took me about four weeks to realize you were gone."

"You're a terrible liar, and this is troublesome."

"God, Shikamaru, is anything _not_ troublesome."

"Cloud watching. But this is particularly troublesome, because in order to come here to find you and to assure ourselves what we knew, that you're perfectly okay, we're not on course for our mission and it will take us an extra two days to get home. But Neji manhandled me here, so there wasn't much I could do."

Kiyoshi smiled, "Neji, that's so like you."

The three ninjas stared at Kiyoshi for a bit before bidding their farewells and disappearing from the shop.

"You have interesting friends. It's odd how an outsider from a Hidden Village became so close to some of the shinobi." Kiyoshi just smiled uneasily. "And I had no idea that you made up your stories based on people you knew! You're a wonderful storyteller. Have you ever told them the stories?"

"Oh yes, they know the stories. They even helped me make them."

XX

The people in the village were a little wary for a while shortly after Kiyoshi's shinobi friends had visited. An unknown man had taken residence in the local inn and he was quite the mysterious type. He kept his cloak on with the hood up if he was ever in anyone's presence and he didn't seem to be there for any real reason.

Something that got people nervous was that he'd disappear for the entire day only to return at night and no one knew where he went. Some claimed he stayed in the village and spied on people from the trees. Once, young Teuchi alleged seeing the man running among the trees and he was a shinobi. Of course Teuchi was also Kiyoshi's biggest fan and loved the stories.

However ever since Teuchi's allegations Kiyoshi had a tendency to get jumpy when he left the ramen shop. This caused even more people to believe that the man was a shinobi that Kiyoshi may have met.

The man didn't make himself known until Kiyoshi managed to finish his entire story.

"He just left the village?" Ken asked.

"Did he return?" Kin asked.

"What about Sasuke and Naruto?" Chikako demanded. "They never got together." She seemed to find this completely unfair.

Kiyoshi shrugged. "Their story isn't finished. I don't know how it ends."

"I do." The crowd turned to see the strange man, Kiyoshi whipping around the fastest. His hood was down and it revealed a handsome face with jet black hair contrasting with his ivory skin. "Dobe comes home in the end."

**A/N Tell me if there are any problems. I do my own editing.**


	2. Chapter 2

Only because people seemed to expect another chapter did I write this. That's why it took so long to come out, I wasn't exactly planning on writing more, and I really wanted to think this over.

I don't own Naruto.

Also, 'dobe' is Sasuke's nickname for Naruto. It basically means 'dead last.' Iruka called him that the day they made the teams. It's in the Japanese version, so if you only watch or read the American versions, you would need help with Japanese words. I try not to really add much Japanese, only because it looks stupid, but I don't like writing dead last only because dobe connotes more than just the original meaning. And the honorifics are in here because the American translations miss so much of what they really suggest. I hope there's nothing really superfluous in here.

-

There was this palpable kind of silence that seemed to make everyone tense as Kiyoshi just sort of stared at the man. He was obviously a ninja, he even had his hitai-ate prominently displayed on his forehead. Those villagers who knew even the slightest bit about Hidden Villages recognized the symbol as that of Konoha. Those who were fans of Kiyoshi's story immediately recognized the man before them. He was porcelain pale with charcoal black hair. There was a permanent scowl fixed upon his face, but a sort of ethereal beauty that made women fall in love instantly. His voice was low and smooth, and there was this tenderness in the way he was looking at Kiyoshi. The description of Uchiha Sasuke was perfect.

The children still gathered around Kiyoshi's feet were brimming with excitement, and if not for their confusion they would have run as one to the man. The adults however began whispering as pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place for them.

Blond boy, roughly twenty but he looked younger, bright blue eyes, scars on his face, and a love for ramen. However, the idea that this boy, Kiyoshi-kun, was more than what he seemed, a powerful shinobi, was so outlandish that even though all the facts had been right in front of them, they chose to overlook them and take the easier road. The false stories that Kiyoshi were telling were so much easier to handle if they were kept as fairytales and not live accounts. As much as people like Tanaka wanted to scold the boy for hiding his identity, no one spoke while the two men stared at each other.

"How did you find me?"

Uchiha raised an eyebrow that conveyed so much sarcasm and disdain it was amazing. "There are only so many ramen bars I can check before I find the right one. Plus, Neji was acting weird, smug, so I knew they must have found you."

"Neji? Smug?" Kiyoshi asked impishly, playfully, _tauntingly_. It was a whole new side to the popular story-telling, ramen fiend. "Perhaps he was just happy that he knew something you didn't."

"Smug."

Uchiha was a man of few words.

Kiyoshi didn't move Emi from his lap; instead he just adjusted her weight and continued to hold her. She looked like Christmas had come early as she reveled in all the jealous glares from the other children. "Was there something you needed?" Kiyoshi asked with a slight inquisitive smile while he absently bounced Emi on his knee and winked conspiratorially at Chikako.

"Stop being a fool. Tsunade wants to step down and get some rest. She wants her successor to come back already."

Kiyoshi seemed to be considering the words. Chikako was slightly laughing and shaking her head at him. He nodded in clear agreement with her. "That's bull. Tsunade's the one who sent me away from the village. She said she wanted a few months of quiet before the village exploded into chaos when I was inducted." There were no longer any pretenses now; Kiyoshi had clearly come to the understanding that everyone present knew who he was and what was going on, except a few of the younger kids, but if Chikako had anything to say about it, they would know too. She was nothing if not meddlesome and gossipy.

Uchiha seemed to be getting antsy, and very angry. "Dobe, this isn't something to be discussed in public. Stop being an ass, and let's go."

"I'm comfortable."

"Me, too," Emi piped up to the amusement of Kiyoshi.

"See?" Kiyoshi cried loudly as if Emi was evidence of some sort. "You couldn't steal a young girl's comfort away from her."

Finally the man got fed up. "Dobe," he said one last time before disappearing to the murmured amazement of the crowd. Kiyoshi was unfazed.

For a moment no one moved until Tanaka stepped forward. "Rokudaime Hokage-sama, I thought you wanted to go home? I thought you were waiting for him to come get you?"

Kiyoshi frowned. "I'm not Rokudaime yet. And you're still my boss as of now. But… you can call me 'Naruto.'"

Chikako didn't think this quite answered Tanaka's question. "Well?" she asked impatiently. "Weren't you waiting for Sasuke to come get you? I mean you obviously," and she lowered her voice in case he was still hanging around, "love him. So what's the problem?"

"Oh," Naruto smiled widely, eyes falling mostly shut. "I want him to realize that he wants me back. I want him to admit it."

"You deserve at least that much," Chikako agreed.

-

The next day, Naruto began a new story. The last one, he admitted, was really all about Naruto and Sasuke. This was going to focus more on Naruto and Gaara. There had been a vague mention of Naruto spending a few months hanging around Sunagakure, but nothing had been elaborated and since the story had jumped right back into that of Naruto and Sasuke, no one had been complaining.

"It's true Naruto only spent a few months in Suna, but someone like Naruto has a tendency to make even the smallest things interesting," Naruto smiled as he continued to tell the story as if _he_ wasn't the main character.

Sometime during the third day one of the boys made a mention of feeling someone hanging around. "Do you think it's Uchiha-san?" Kimihiro asked eagerly. "Maybe he wants to hang around and hear the story too."

Naruto nodded. "Of course he wants to hear it. Sasuke's never heard this story before because I never told anyone and he hadn't really been around when I was at Suna. It must be killing the bastard that I'm telling all of you this story when he never even knew it." Naruto was smiling widely, clearly loving the idea that he could hold something above Sasuke's head, that he had been keeping something from the Uchiha that the other obviously was interested in. "Don't mind him if he hangs around a lot, and whatever you do," Naruto leaned in to the group conspiratorially, "don't acknowledge he's even there. Let him think he's fooling us. For now."

A few of the children laughed and Chikako was one of them. Naruto had grown very fond of the sharp girl during his stay, and he always felt the rush of pride whenever he managed to amuse her.

-

Everyday Naruto continued to show up for work, running in just on time, panting with a huge smile on his face. Sometimes there would be a child or two hanging off his shoulders or maybe they would be running in just after him, panting as well, and pouting that Naruto had won the race again. Now that Sasuke was in town, all the people, especially the children, were loathed to leave Naruto alone in case the Uchiha confronted Naruto. Everyone wanted to be there when it happened.

Naruto seemed to enjoy the company as well. "I really want Sasuke to be forced to admit it when there are people around," Naruto confided in Tanaka. "Then he can't brush it off like it never happened. He'll be forced to confront the fact that he at least thinks of me as a friend!"

"I'm surprised he didn't mention anything about Chikako asking if the two of you ever got together," a teenager at the counter interjected.

"Then he would have to admit to something. Either that he can't like me like that, or that he does. And he won't do either. If he doesn't like me like that he obviously won't say he _does_ like me, and he won't admit he _doesn't_ in hopes that he can bring me home so I can settle down and be inducted." Naruto settled his elbows on the counter. "And if he _does_ like me like that, well, he won't say he doesn't in case he loses a chance at me, and he can't say he does, especially with other people around, because that would be letting someone see beyond the wall." Naruto mimed a wall blocking his face. His toothy grin could be seen when he dropped his hand.

The days dragged on while Sasuke was there in the village, waiting to catch Naruto alone, waiting and biding his time. Sometimes Naruto would come to work with bruises and scrapes that healed by the end of his shift, claiming 'the bastard' had ambushed him and tried to catch him and drag him home unwillingly. No matter what, Naruto cooked his ramen and served to the villagers smiling and joking. Even when Sasuke cast his shadow on the restaurant and sat in the corner, Naruto served him with little jibes and pokes and teased the other boy just as Naruto would tease any customer. And even if Sasuke was there, Naruto didn't bother to stop answering any questions villagers asked about the Uchiha. Naruto spoke as if the other wasn't even there, and eventually the Uchiha would get so pissed off he'd drop a random amount of money (usually too much) on the table and storm out before he got embarrassed or too pissed off and attacked Naruto right there.

Naruto just laughed, seeing those days as a victory, and one step closer to breaking Sasuke.

-

One day while the restaurant was emptying out and the end of the day was approaching, a large crowd entered headed by a busty blonde woman. There were few people left to watch, except for the most dedicated of Naruto's fans, and Uchiha Sasuke was also seated in the corner, slouched down low (moping as Naruto dared to say) but he jumped up to attention at the sight of the customers. Tanaka watched as Naruto grumbled a little at the sudden intrusion. Behind the woman Tanaka could recognize Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, Haruno (soon to be Rock) Sakura, and a few others just from Naruto's descriptions of them in his stories (Rock Lee was the easiest to recognize).

"Time's up, brat," the woman in the front said.

"But, Tsunade-baachan," Naruto protested, "I'm not ready."

Tsunade sighed. "Don't lie. Sasuke's reports tell me that you're more than ready to come home, you're just wasting time for amusement now." She was staring evenly at Naruto's abashed face. "That's not proper for someone about to take on the role of a Kage. Perhaps I'm not giving the position to the right person?" She asked. "Maybe, Sakura would be better suited, or perhaps _Sasuke_."

"No thanks, Hokage-sama," Sasuke said from his spot. "I'm not particularly interested in the crap job of Hokage."

"Bastard!" Naruto shouted. "You take that back. Being Hokage is a great privilege, it isn't some crap job! Not like you could do it anyway, you don't care about anyone else, not the village, not even your own teammates, so you _couldn't_ be a good Hokage."

"I'm glad you agree then, Naruto. I'm glad you see how important it is to be Hokage, what responsibilities you have," Tsunade was smirking. "Staying away this long is a bit excessive, so perhaps you _aren't_ ready for the responsibilities, even if your heart is in the right place." Naruto tried to respond. "I won't be known as the Hokage that gave a brat a job he couldn't handle. I won't be responsible for you screwing up our village and leading it to ruin. I won't be responsible for appointing a young blond idiot who gets himself killed and lands me back in that office. If you want to be Hokage, then you better start acting like one!"

"Baachan…"

Sakura peeked out from behind Tsunade's shoulder. "I think you've been away long enough, Naruto." She looked hesitant to say the next part, but she pushed on. "If you haven't accomplished what you wanted to yet, then perhaps… perhaps it will _never_ be accomplished."

Tanaka knew then that Naruto was not going to be able to protest any longer. His shoulders sagged and he looked away from Sakura's probing gaze. Tanaka's own gaze wandered over to the silent Uchiha knowing somehow that Sakura was making a mention to him. Somehow Tanaka knew just then that Naruto's whole reason for leaving stemmed from the Uchiha. Naruto was comfortable becoming Hokage; he didn't need to leave to make himself more mature, because he had been preparing himself for his dream since he had been a very young boy. Maybe, the last thing he wanted was to know that he had Uchiha Sasuke, that Sasuke had feelings that reciprocated Naruto's own, and maybe that was what Naruto had been trying to accomplish by leaving and forcing the Uchiha to chase after. To let Sasuke know what it was like to do the chasing for once.

"Alright." Naruto turned to Tanaka. "Let the kids know I'm sorry for leaving like this. If they ever want a story, they know where to find me, when they get older of course." There was about three children already hanging around the restaurant and now they came forward. "Go home, kids," he gathered them all up in one big hug. "Thanks for listening."

"We have no where to go," Chikako said not giving away any type of emotion. She looked sullen, but Tanaka could see the tears she was holding back.

"Your parents."

"None." Kimihiro said. "We're the orphans. Chikako and I were just left here and Nobu's parents died two years ago."

"Matsumoto-san takes care of them and two others," Tanaka said. "She lost her own children a few years back. Don't worry; they're taken well care of by Matsumoto-san."

Naruto looked sad. But before he could even offer to take them with him, which Tanaka knew would be a mistake to just give them false hope, Tsunade wisely stepped in. "Is our Hokage coming or not? Because if you're not with us when we walk out in a minute, don't think I won't take back that necklace and pass it to Sakura."

Sakura's face flushed as Naruto looked to her. "Don't worry, I'm coming. You'd think I was a criminal or something the way you're threatening to make me come back home."

"You shouldn't feel bad about leaving us," Nobu said solemnly. "We're not orphans like you were. We've got Matsumoto-kaasan and each other and Tanaka-san and everyone else in the village. We'll be sad to see you go, but it won't be like we're losing our only friend." Naruto smiled, the little brat was definitely throwing the stories of Sasuke and Naruto out as an example. "We're better off than you were."

"While that makes me sad to hear how bad my life was, it makes me happy to know yours is better." Naruto sniffled a little with a small smile on his face and straightened up. "Well, let's go. We've got some old fogies to piss off when I'm inducted. And then I've got some new laws to sketch out."

"I haven't forgotten what you've promised me and my clan," Neji was saying seriously as the group left and Naruto didn't look back.

Tsunade and Sasuke were the last two in the restaurant. "Thank you, Tanaka-san, for taking care of the idiot while he was here," Tsunade smiled in gratitude. "You'll always be welcome at Konohagakure." She looked at Sasuke who hadn't made a move to leave. "Good bye then."

She left and Sasuke remained. He looked at the children for a moment, but they weren't prepared to leave, and Sasuke paid them no more attention. "Tanaka-san, you were kind to Naruto. We're all thankful for that, because he's had a lot of hardship and he could never be truly happy just living his life; he would see that eventually. I'm not sorry that we're taking him from your village though, because he's wanted more back at ours."

"By who?" Tanaka found the courage to say.

Sasuke knew exactly what she was asking. "Me," he answered and disappeared.

-

A few villagers made the trip to Konohagakure to watch the induction of Uzumaki Naruto. The consensus when they returned was that he was widely accepted by the village and one mentioned that he seemed like such a different person.

"He was so solemn and he looked so responsible, much older. It was like the entire time he was here he was getting out the last of his childhood."

Chikako would scowl. "He never had a childhood; he was killing his silly mask while he was here. The same mask that Sakura hated, the one that was a smile covering up his pain and his sadness and his hurt." Of all the people, Chikako had been the best at reading the meaning behind Naruto's stories. She was often seen hanging around the area in town where Naruto used to sit and tell his stories, and sometimes she would disappear, skipping classes at school, and return with bloody knuckles.

"She left town for two days once, I was so worried," Matsumoto confided. "She turns up without a word, no explanation, and I find out from Nobu that she went to another town and she purchased a few kunai and shuriken, and a weapons pouch. She's been disappearing with them to practice."

While Chikako seemed obsessed with Naruto and his stories and his life and the fact that he was gone seemed like it was never going to be forgotten, the other children actually began to move on with their lives. As upset as they all were when they found out Naruto had left without saying goodbye to them, the boys made up little ninja games and the girls made up new stories about Sasuke and Naruto and told them to the other children (one story an adult overheard was so raunchy that there was now a chaperone to censor the stories). Tanaka hadn't told any of the other adults but she had caught one girl writing a story about Sasuke and Naruto that was a little raunchy, but she couldn't very well confiscate a customer's personal belonging.

Even though life was going on like usual, Naruto's presence was still there, and they continued life like normal, until Naruto showed up again.

-

"I hear this place has the best ramen!"

Tanaka looked up quickly a reply ready. "I'm afraid the man who made our best ramen left us a few months ago."

Naruto looked scandalized. "No! And here I was ready for some of the best ramen outside of Ichiraku's at Konohagakure. You know, I spend a lot of time in the shinobi villages," he whispered conspiratorially. The man had the same mischievous smirk and that twinkle in his eye, but he wasn't wearing his orange jacket and his hair no longer stuck up wildly as it was cut a good deal shorter than before.

He wasn't alone this time either. Uchiha Sasuke was a silent shadow behind Naruto, menacing, protective. "Does Rokudaime-sama really need a guard in our quiet village?"

"Guard?" Naruto questioned. He glanced back at Sasuke. "He's actually off duty, but the jerk won't change into civilian clothing, even when his Hokage gives him a direct order," he said clearly directing the last bit towards the Uchiha. He turned back to Tanaka, "Honestly, what's a village leader supposed to do when even his former teammate and most trusted subordinate won't follow a simple order."

Tanaka smiled and asked in a low whisper, "How are things between you and your most trusted subordinate?"

"He's very warm at night," Naruto whispered back. A moment later a fist came down on his head and Sasuke gave the blond a hard glare before leaving the restaurant. "But during the day he's a frigid bastard!" Naruto screamed at Sasuke's back. "Do you believe that? He's such an ice queen still."

"You love that, though," a voice around Naruto's armpit accused. Chikako was trying to frown sternly but a smile was threatening to break through.

"Chikki!" Naruto swept the girl into a large hug and she laughed in spite of the stupid nickname. "You shouldn't insinuate things like that you know."

"You shouldn't make mention of how warm your boyfriend keeps you at night," she shot back.

"Ouch, quick as always. You and Sasuke would have a field day with each other."

Chikako frowned, clearly upset about having lost Naruto to Sasuke. "I don't like him. He's creepy."

Naruto turned serious. "Really? He's so mean and creepy that you wouldn't be able to live under the same roof as him?" Tanaka and Chikako both raised eyebrows at Naruto's random rambling. "That's too bad, because he was really quite receptive to the idea of me adopting you."

"Yes! I love Sasuke-teme! He's great!" Chikako tightly hugged Naruto and hopped out of his arms to run outside and fling her small arms around Sasuke in a tight hug. "Thank you!" Naruto and Tanaka could hear her shouting.

"Is that what you came back for?"

The man smiled bashfully. "Yeah, she's such a sweet girl, and I know she's not happy here. Plus, Sasuke's got his own kids on the way so it's only fair if one of our kids is actually _mine_." Tanaka couldn't even get the words out to ask how Sasuke had children coming. "Tsunade-baachan did this medical procedure. She made Sasuke jerk-off into a cup and the injected some of the sperm into Sakura and Ino."

Tanaka raised her eyebrow. "Lee-san is okay with Sakura carrying the baby of the man she used to have a crush on? And don't tell me Ino never got over him either."

"Nah, it's not like that; it turns out that Lee's impotent, and Ino lost Chouji a month or so ago. So the two girls saw this is their only chance to have children. However both agreed that I should help Sasuke raise the children, just as long as they get to be there, like aunts or something. It's really very sweet of them to do that for me. It turns out that Ino's pregnant with fraternal twins, so Sasuke wanted her to raise one, but she refused, mostly on the grounds that the kid would probably develop the Sharingan and know what was going on, and also because she thinks it's wrong to split twins, or any children."

Tanaka set a free bowl of ramen in front of Naruto. "It's good to see you so happy. You're going to have a family soon. You've got Sasuke, and now you're going to raise kids with him. Plus, you've got Chikako now."

The girl in question was currently bothering Sasuke who looked close to picking her up and throwing her. "She's my kind of kid. She pisses off Sasuke. I just know his bastard kids are gonna love him to death and they're gonna get his sulky personality and I'll get pissed off at them. She's my sunshine in a future of prissy and pissy Uchiha brats."

"Are we leaving _today_ or what?" Chikako demanded storming back in. "Let's go to Matsumoto-san's and pick up my clothing and get home!"

Naruto turned a brilliant smile on Tanaka. "Hear that? She already calls it 'home.'" He laid down money for the ramen he ate even amidst Tanaka's protests and ducked out of the restaurant; he swung Chikako up on his shoulders and walking side-by-side with Sasuke he disappeared out of sight with his new family.

-

**A/N Okay so admittedly the story took on a life of its own. When I first started writing it, it wasn't supposed to have this much of Tanaka, or even be about Chikako this much, but I grew attached to the two of them. It was really supposed to be about Naruto and Sasuke when Naruto gets home, but I think there are enough of those. I'm pretty happy with the results though. Hope you enjoyed it.**


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